Autonegotiation generally refers to the process by which two networked devices determine a set of parameters by which data is to be exchanged between the devices. Such parameters may include, without limitation, one or more rates of transmission, a duplex mode, and/or flow control mechanisms. During autonegotiation, the connected devices share their capabilities regarding the transmission parameters and then choose the highest performance transmission mode supported by both devices.
Although the autonegotiation process may select transmission parameters that are supported by two devices, the same parameters may be incompatible with networks to which the devices are coupled. For example, one of the network devices may be a transceiver adapted to convert network traffic from a first network protocol to a second network protocol, the second network protocol having transmission parameters, such as bandwidth, that are incompatible or that do not match with those of the first network. The resulting mismatch may result in lost data and/or inefficient network performance.
It is with these observations in mind, among others, that aspects of the present disclosure were conceived.